1 2026:CGHC:8965 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 110 of 2026 Govind Sonwani S/o. Shri Bhojram Sonwani, Aged About 34 Years R/o. Village Bade Jalli, Thana- Fasterpur, Distt. Mungeli (C.G.) ... Applicant versus The State Of Chhattisgarh Through Station House Officer, Police Station Fasterpur, Distt. Mungeli (C.G.) ... Respondent (Cause title taken from Case Information System) For Applicant : Mr. Sunil Sahu, Advocate For Respondent/State : Ms. Supriya Upasane, Govt. Advocate along with Mr. Jai Prakash Tiwari, Panel Lawyer Hon'ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal Order on Board 19/02/2026 1. This is the first bail application filed by the applicant under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of regular bail. The applicant has been arrested on 04/11/2025 in connection with Crime No. 91 of 2025, registered at Police Station Fasterpur, District Mungeli, for the offense under Section 6 of the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022. VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Digitally signed by VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Date: 2026.02.19 19:04:42 +0530 2 2. The case of the prosecution is that, on 04/11/2025, the police of Police Station Fasterpur received a secret information that, a person is engaged in playing chit gambling at village Bade Jalli, Mahamaya chowk. The police conducted a raid over there and arrested the present applicant, who was actively engaged in chit gambling, and from him, one gambling chit, one dot pen, and cash of Rs. 920/- and two Redmi mobile phones have been seized. The offense has been registered. The memorandum statement of the present applicant was recorded, in which he disclosed that he, along with other co-accused Yogendra Sharma are engaged in chit gambling since 2021 and he is working for the said co-accused Yogendra Sharma and transferred the amount through mobile PhonePe. After completion of investigation, charge sheet has been filed against the present applicant. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant would submit that, except from a chit and mobile phone, nothing incriminating has been seized from the applicant, and since the police apprehending that it was a gambling chit, the offense has been registered against the applicant. He would also submit that since the applicant is having four previous criminal antecedents with respect to the same offense under the Gambling Act, the police used to make him an accused in the offense of gambling. However, from the mobile phone as well as the gambling chit allegedly seized from the applicant, no offense as has been alleged is prima facie appears to be made out against him. The alleged offense is triable by Judicial Magistrate First Class. The 3 applicant is in jail since 04/11/2025, final adjudication of the case will take some time. Therefore, he may be released on bail. 4. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the State opposes and has submitted that from the evidence collected during the investigation, the involvement of the applicant along with the co- accused Yogendra Sharma has been discovered and from the bank account statement of the applicant and Yogendra Sharma, there are transactions of more than Rs. 8 lakhs from 2021 to 2025. From the mobile phone of the present applicant, the CDR was obtained from the Cyber Cell, which also shows the regular conversation with the co-accused Yogendra Sharma. From the evidence, the transaction between the present applicant and Yogendra Sharma was detected. ******* She further submitted that the applicant is having five criminal antecedents of the similar nature of offense, although out of five cases, three have been disposed of on admitting the guilt by the applicant. However, one offense of Crime No. 17/2025 registered at Police Station Fasterpur for the offense under Section 6 of the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 is pending. Therefore, looking to his involvement in the offense as well as previous criminal antecedents, the applicant is not entitled for bail. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material annexed with the bail application and case diary. 6. Considering the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, considering the nature of allegation, further considering the material collected during the investigation, the bank transaction 4 between the applicant and co-accused Yogendra Sharma reflected from the bank account statements and CDR, further considering the criminal antecedents of the applicant, I am not inclined to release the applicant on bail. His bail application is therefore rejected. Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) Judge ved